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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Wuxi Pork Ribs

We went for a short holiday to China, and one of the places we visited was Wuxi, literally meaning 'No tin', in the Jiangzu province. It's an arts and cultural centre famous for its clay figures, Yixing pots and the many mountains and lakes and one of them is the beautiful 'Tai Hu'.

An item on the itinerary was a visit to a movie world, where they film the Chinese epics, and there were Chinese junkboats and palaces of some dynasties. What impressed us most was the live show of a battle field, with Mongolian herdsmen on horseback, fighting with spears and it was a show performed by stuntsmen who acted in movies. It was there that we saw a lot of vacuum packed Wuxi Pork ribs on sale. Well, some of our tour members bought them after a long haggling over the exorbitant opening prices. Upon venturing into the city, later on our own, at leisure, we discovered that Wuxi Pork ribs is their speciality, a sort of signature dish, and of course the prices were much cheaper than those on sale at the movie world.

I have senior citizens in my humble abode, who do not possess strong biting power, so I must cook them real soft and tender, otherwise ........ and also try to strain off the excess oil from the gravy

I'm going to serve this dish with Mantou, Chinese steamed bun, which is a staple food in the Northern parts of China, where wheat, rather than rice is grown. It's made with wheat flour, water, leavening agents and they can be steamed or fried, just as how it's eaten as bread in the West.

Served with steamed Mantou ...... Dip the Mantou into the gravy ............... Yummy

Recipe for Wuxi Pork Ribs

Ingredients :

750 gm Pork Ribs - cut into 3 inches slices

30 gm Spring Onions

10 gm Fresh Ginger - sliced

3 Star Anise

3 inches Cinnamon stick

1/2 Teasp freshly ground Black Pepper

20 gm Rock Sugar

1/3 cup Shaoxing wine

1 Tablespoon Light soya sauce

1/2 Tablespoon Dark soya sauce

5 cups water

Salt to taste

For the Gravy :

1 Teasp Cornflour

1 Tablespoon water

1 Teasp Sesame Oil

Method :

Fill half the wok with water, add in the spring onions (whole). Once the water starts to boil, remove the spring onions and tie them into a knot, set aside.

Add in the washed pork ribs, blanch for a while, and remove to drain on a colander.